Body of Megatron floats around Cybertron
The tune from the old Transformers starts playing
Transformers!
Transformers!
More than meets the eye!
Transformers!
Robots in disguise!
Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of..
….. the Decepticons!
Transformers!
More than meets the eye!
Transformers!
Transformers!
Transformers!
OK, maybe that didn't exactly work out as I planned. I thought I could write something that would look like Unicron's head floating around Cybertron's orbit. Hmmmm, I never really mentioned what happened to the rest of the dead Decepticons didn't I, apart from saying they were launched into space. Oh well, I guess it'll give me room for future expansion. I'll try to avoid doing something like making Unicron appear out of nowhere and give Megatron and the rest new life. I think I'll be insulting the classic Transformer Movie if I did so. Then again, I may have already desecrated the Transformer universe with my fluffy and crazy romance. I think I broke all the rules when I put romance into the picture. As far as I know, except for Powerglide's crazy adventure with a beautiful heiress, no Autobot ever fell in love with a human and vice versa.
Anyway, I digress. I started this story shortly after seeing the Transformer film a second time. It was only then I realized, after being so excited about seeing the beloved characters come to life, that the story actually sucked. Sam was a self-serving hormonally driven idiot in contrast to Spike's valour. Bumblebee was mute. Optimus Prime had his ass handed to Megatron on a silver platter at the end of the movie. Jazz was snapped in half. Ironhide for all his huge guns, failed to score a single shot at a Decepticon. Ratchet was nearly useless. And all the Decepticons, as Galen mentioned, were practically invulnerable and could regenerate after massive amounts of damage in contrast to the Autobots: Brawl, Barricade, Megatron, Starscream, even Frenzy, they seem to take all sorts of damage yet kept on fighting.
Not to mention replacing the Matrix with a bloody cube. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..
My worst gripe was the lack of Transformer vs Transformer action. The only one we saw was Prime vs Bonecrusher which lasted less than a minute before Prime unceremoniously decapitated him, showing his beam saber for a total of 12 seconds. And like I said, in the final fight between the two, I didn't see ANYTHING! Just a bunch of explosions and cars flying around and then suddenly, Sam pushes the cube into Megatron's chest and it's all over.
I could continue my Anti-Bay rant but I think it'll be as long as my Anti-Bush rant so I'll stop it now. As I was saying, after watching the movie a second time, I was also struggling to come up with a plan for FORD. And then two things hit me one after the other:
One: Making Kasumi the main character of the epic Transformer universe rather than a male.
Two: Kasumi becoming cursed into Megatron via the Spring of Drowned Megatron.
Yes, my twisted mind came up with these two ideas right from the start. Point one was easy enough. Point two was what I thought my greatest plot twist: to curse sweet young Kasumi into the most tyrannical megalomaniac in the universe. (relatively) And so I wrote, and wrote, and wrote until the culmination of Chapter 17: Rise of Megatron Part 3.
I remember being angry with many of the reviewers: that was my greatest plot twist but a majority of the reviews didn't even comment anything about it, only on suggesting future Autobot reinforcements. I was angry enough to send a few of you some personal messages on it. It was the bombshell I had planned from day one but when I finally drop it, instead of hearing shock and awe, I hear totally unrelated comments. I would have thought Kasumi coming out of the Spring as Megatron would have at least sparked a few flames or "HOLY COW!" reviews but instead, you all were clamouring extra Autobots. The one liner reviews didn't help either. I guess I was rather spoilt, FORD normally had 5 reviews per chapter but I was overwhelmed that More Than Meets the Eye had more than 20 reviews per chapter at first. Then it slowly decreased to as low as 5 for Chapter 25 at one point. At the moment, the average number of reviews is 14, which is mostly due to the overwhelming response I received in the beginning. So I apologise for seemingly being ungrateful but seriously, that was my greatest plot twist and most of you seemed nonchalant about it. (Galen, Musichowler, Hinatafanboy, Wonderbee, Isumo and a few others are spared from my ire, they actually sounded shocked at least) Anyway, what's done is done, but I nearly gave up at this point truth be told. Especially since I didn't quite know how to progress beyond this point after dropping my bombshell, which nearly none appreciated.
Well, that's not quite true, I did envision the ending: the Autobot convoy racing through the streets of Toyko with Kasumi driving Bumblebee at the lead, while playing the song "Two Worlds, One Family" by Phil Collins. That idea came from Disney's Tarzan, except instead of Tarzan and Jane swinging through the vines at the ending song, it will be an Autobot Convoy doing a Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift throughout the streets with Kasumi at Bumblebee's wheel.
Ah, the good old days of Disney's musicals. Lion King, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast…. You know what? Come to think of it, as I read back the way I described Kasumi, I think there's little difference between Belle and Kasumi. I always describe them as having a ponytail and wearing an apron, both like reading books, both fell in love with someone….. not human at first. Well, the revelation only came after I finished the story. Oh, and Kasumi's gown was heavily influenced by Belle's golden one, except it was sapphire blue instead of gold and wasn't so revealing.
OK, back to my commentary. So I wrote this story to do everything that Michael Bey DIDN'T do in the 2007 film. Let's run through the list:
1) Autobots kicked Decepticon ass (some of you might debate this considering how trashed the Autobots but think of it: most of the Decepticon victories was due to Megatron cheating with the Key and Matrix.) In case you didn't notice, during the movie, ONLY ONE DECEPTICON WAS DESTROYED BY AUTOBOTS! The rest were invulnerable to Ironhide's massive cannons.
2) Optimus Prime actually fighting Megatron and kicking his ass in the end rather than the other way round.
3) Jazz did NOT die. Many many many people were pissed off, including myself. Not so much as the way he died (which was heroic enough, if you look closely, Hound nearly died the same way in Chapter 23), but the fact that he died in vain. That's why in the beginning, I devoted a lot of time on him to flesh out his hentai character. His character for this story is partially inspired by Jiraiya of Naruto fame: pervert but noble. Look but don't touch. (for the most part anyway, don't try this at home kids) Plus among the Autobots, the best close combat warrior with the possible exception of Optimus Prime or Ratchet.
4) More Autobots! After much debate, I chose Hound as the extra due to his friendliness and also I wanted the Autobots to have a sort of scout/sniper guy. I know his shoulder mounted thing looks like a cannon but I made it to a scope so that his entire arm can transform into a sniper rifle of howitzer proportions.
5) Decepticon characterization: stupid Michael Bey, no development whatsoever on them, not even Megatron. So I endeavoured to make my list as close to G1 personas. My favourite Decepticon in the movie was actually Brawl (mistakenly named Devastator on screen) the tank. I loved his transformation and design a lot. That's why next to Megatron, he got the most screen time. Blast Off… I have no idea how I made him that way. In the end, on a whim, I made him a honourable guy.
6) For some reason, I sidelined Starscream in favour of Brawl, Soundwave and Barricade. Then again, much of the story is focused solely on Kasumi, who interacts with Megatron the most so Megatron got the best limelight and development.
7) Cars designs – probably the least significant about my gripes, but I thought it was really unoriginal to have nearly every car come from GMC. I understand their budget constraints but seriously, the lack of Japanese cars was not a good idea to me since in the first place, the Autobot toy line came from Japan so they are mostly Japanese cars. But this isn't such a big gripe, in the end I liked Optimus' new Peterbilt instead of the flatnose as well as the Concept Camaro.
8) Bumblebee- oh my Lord, Spielberg made him mute. I tried to do it in the beginning but gave up in the end. God, I wanted to give him some love but ended up GIVING him a love in the end. Oh well, he definitely exceeded my expectations in my story. Made him a good fighter and didn't disable him in the last fight unlike stupid Bey.
9) Autobot Femmes – He he, I just love my personal rendition of Chromia. Tits of doom…. Sometimes I surprise even myself. Also put in the long expected Arcee in it as well. Like Jazz, Arcee is a close combat dual-wielding sword fighter. Yeah, decided to give the guy a love, more love heaped upon Jazz due to his unjustified death in movie.
10) PROWL! The great Autobot Prowl sidelined because the idiots wanted a bad police car. I put him in but later decided that Barricade wasn't that bad an idea as well. Prowl's origins is influenced by Beast Wars character Rampage, a terrible experiment to clone Starscream's indestructible Spark and ended up with a psychotic Predacon instead. In my story, Prowl is created the same way except he was later captured and realized the error of his ways. I enjoyed writing about Prowl especially his obsession with Inari. After all, if you want to be friends with Kasumi, you have to eat her cooking.
However, there were a few things I couldn't figure out to do in the end. These are the weaknesses of my story in my opinion.
1) The Dinobots – Oh I wish I could have come up with an idea other than them crashing into Shinnosuke's swamp. But I couldn't come up with a credible excuse for them remaining in dinosaur form. In the end, I replaced them with Omega Supreme, which was a negative to some reviewers I believe.
2) Decepticon character development: except for Megatron, Soundwave, Brawl, Blast Off and Barricade, I think I relegated the rest as comic relief or just off-screen combat. Starscream in the end I didn't manage to portray his treacherous nature, just his cowardly nature was shown. The Decepticon Seekers similarly took a backseat and hardly spoke at all.
3) Autobot character development: Again, I focused mainly on Prime, Jazz, Bumblebee, Prowl and to a lesser extent, Hound. Ratchet, Ironhide as well as the rest of the Autobot reinforcements were put aside as I wanted to advance the story. My apologies to Galen for not further developing Blurr and Kup as you requested. For Blurr, it was hard to think of his super fast lines. In the end, I put half of them back into space while the other half returned to Earth to be with Kasumi for convenience sake.
4) Lemon between Kotaro and Kasumi: Sigh, I have guiltily imagined this countless times but I dare not put it into words, since I have ZERO experience on this matter beyond my sadistic imagination. There's the moral factor as well, though some may say I already crossed it when writing the Happosai related chapters, in this fic and FORD. The closest I'll ever get is a heavy make out session
5) Grammar and language in general: I think if I were to grade myself on an English test, I would give myself a C . I have been occasionally re-reading my chapters and amended them but I'm too lazy to upload it on and replace the chapter. Sorry guys, I'll get around to it later. Again, I thank many of you for pointing out my mistakes.
6) Not much screen time was given to the NWC but the point of this story is centred around Kasumi anyway.
Some of you are asking what I'm going to do next? Truth is I have a ton of ideas. Problem is too many involve Crossovers with other universes. At the moment, they are all Kasumi-centred as well instead of Ranma. And unlike "More Than Meets the Eye", I have not envisioned a beginning, middle and end for any of them. FORD has already become stuck because of this and I don't want to write stories if I can't end it. However, I will state the ideas I have toyed for a long time in case somebody wants to co-write a story with me.
1) Fate Stay Night crossover – Seven Magicians summon seven heroes from ages past to fight for the Holy Grail. Except instead of historical heroes, you get heroes and villains from the galaxy like Optimus Prime, Master Chief, Batman, and Emperor Palpatine…. Yeah, my twisted mine is at work. I drafted an outline for this but I fear that not many of you watch Fate Stay Night and I don't feel like reaching out for a new batch of reviewers. I looked at the Fate Stay Night section and number of reviewers are pitifully low.
2) EDK, I'm still waiting for your answer to co-write a Ranma Nabiki fic. Nabiki being Ranma's slave is still a very appealing idea to me. (again, twisted mind at work)
3) Continuation of More Than Meets The Eye: Kasumi's adventures at Nekomi Tech. Goddesses, Demons and Transformers clash. As Kasumi would say, "Oh my?!"
4) Continuation of More Than Meets The Eye: Wheeljack returns and tries to create a space bridge to Cybertron. But instead, Kasumi gets sent to….. Azeroth. Yes, I am being influenced by World of Warcraft. And to top it off, she lands right in the middle of Orgrimmar….. capital of the Horde Orcs. This idea is influenced by my usual compulsion to put a chaotic and messed up universe right, which is the state of Warcraft now thanks to greedy Blizzard executives who want Alliance and Horde to fight each other to make money out of PVP players.
5) Latest and craziest idea I have: Bring in a new batch of Decepticons: from the Headmasters series. Who will lead the new batch of Decepticons? Most likely Shockwave but could also be Scorponok or….. believe it or not, Grimlock. Hmmm, that would make another nice redemption story. Why Grimlock as a Decepticon? Well, apparently according to the comics, the only reason he isn't a Decepticon is because he hates Megatron. Otherwise his character is as tyrannical as a Decepticon. He he, I can just envision it: the taming of Grimlock by Kasumi….. maybe with a nice Sukiyaki beef stew.
6) Wait until the next Transformers movie comes out. I just pray Michael Bey (yes, he has been confirmed as director of the next film), will do his job properly otherwise I will have to rewrite it as well. I probably won't wait for it to come out first (2009 I think) before writing my next project. When it does happen, well, either way I will try to amend his mess. Why couldn't they put a comic book otaku like Bryan Singer as the director? Groans
7) Forging Our Own Destinies – I know, I don't like to leave it hanging either but the way it's going, I think I'll break the taboo of turning it into a demented sex fic. Tell you what, if it is discontinued, I will STATE that it is discontinued. AND THEN I will re-write it. I would like to revise the story as well as the Jedi Guard.
Well, that's it for my self review. I'm open to feedback on the above ideas, which ones you think are the most feasible ideas or interesting ones. In the meantime, my warmest and most grateful thanks to the following reviewers who consistently supported me throughout nearly every chapter of this story and provided extremely helpful suggestions and reviews: Sithknight Galen, Isumo, Musichowler, Elconquistador, Cylon One (haven't heard from u a long time though), Wonderbee, Screaming Dean, Fortune Hunter, Dragonman 180. Seriously if it weren't for you guys, I would have stopped a long time ago. Of course I appreciate the rest of my reviewers as well, just that the above are quite special in my list.
It's been an honour to write this for your reading pleasure. I hope to do more in future. Don't put this off your alert list though, Barricade's Omake is coming soon. I think I'll combine with it with a wedding for both Kasumi and Kotaro. I can just see you all drooling now.
I also hope I planted some small seed about the love of Christ in your hearts. Wow, actually I can't believe I spread the good news through my story: that wasn't my intention until chapter 21. Of course this is a work of fiction, but there's nothing that Kasumi went through that hasn't been matched by one biblical figure blessed by God. I experienced His love before and I believe He is real. I pray you will all experience Him in person as well. Forget about all the one hundred political entities claiming to be the "real" Christianity. What is ultimately important is YOUR relationship with God, not what other think or behave.
Thank you again. Until the next time, take care and God bless all of you.